Her yarns have this special, relaxed feeling to it – looking at it, touching it or knitting with it feels like a vacation! That's probably because Bridget Henderson lives in South Africa, close to Cape Town, just a 15 minute walk away from the Table Mountain National Park. "Cowgirlblues" is the name she chose for her brand, for a sunshiny feeling when knitting! Bridget has been dyeing yarns since 2012: "I had learned to spin and the natural next step was to start experimenting with dyeing. My first experiences were with some yarn and with wool roving as I was still thinking about spinning." In the beginning she focussed on dyeing already knitted yarn and dyed a lot of garments, she says. "At this stage I wasn't aware of the huge move towards hand dyed yarns internationally. But knitters and crocheters in South Africa started seeing my colours and began asking for yarns, so I started doing these as well."

The first merino sheep arrived in South Africa in 1789 and mohair goats in 1838. "So unlike many European countries we don't have the traditional knits and patterns that have been handed down over hundreds of years", Bridget says. But sometimes that's an advantage as we aren't tied to a historical way of doing things, so I think I would say that people are fairly open minded and interested in trying new things here." Bridget creates all of her colour blends from primary colour dye powders and she and her team mix them up themselves. "I think both the palette and the combinations of colours make our yarns stand out", she says. "They have a vibrancy about them that I think is a little different. And maybe there's a trace of the passion we feel for the product that lingers on the yarns, left behind by all the hands each skein has passed through in the process." Bridget works with South African natural materials which are predominantly wool and mohair: "I love these fibres and the different blends of them.", she says.

"Aran" is made of 80% wool and 20% Mohair fiber from South Africa that is wonderfully soft and voluminous – perfect for warm and comfy hats (like Tensfield) or cowls that will knit up in no time.

Cowgirlblues yarns are made with mulesing-free merino fiber from South Africa.